Running of the bulls turns into ducking of the drones

An aerial drone being used to film an event crashed into the grandstand at Virginia Motorsports Park during the Great Bull Run, said Major W.B. Knott of the Dinwiddie County, Va., sheriff's office.

Knott said he was told that four or five people suffered very minor injuries. They were treated by EMS personnel at the event, and none was taken to a hospital, Knott said.

The bull run was billed as a daylong festival featuring bands, drinking, games and a tomato fight. The highlight was to be four scheduled bull runs in which participants were to try to elude or outrace 24 hefty specimens of male livestock.

Animal rights organizations have contended that the event endangered both people and bovines.

A Richmond, Va., area television station, WTVR-Channel 6, said the drone was being used to capture video of the event.

In video posted on the station's website, the drone was seen hovering above the stands. It appeared to be about four feet in diameter and reminiscent of a spider, with numerous appendages projecting from a central core. Then, it suddenly dipped and fell into the midst of about a dozen spectators.